MFA Consultant @CIVICUS

About the assignment 

CIVICUS, the World Alliance for Citizen Participation, is seeking an independent evaluator or evaluation team to conduct an end-of-phase evaluation of its strategic partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands (Netherlands MFA) under the Power of Voices Partnerships framework. 

The evaluation covers CIVICUS’ core work from 1 January 2021 to 30 June 2026, a period of significant global stress on civic and democratic freedoms, and will assess the relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability of CIVICUS’ activities as supported by Netherlands MFA flexible core funding. This includes the CIVICUS Monitor, Membership and Networks, the #StandAsMyWitness Campaign, Advocacy and Campaigns, and Solidarity actions including International Civil Society Week. The evaluation is global in scope, with particular attention to CIVICUS’ work across the Global South and its UN advocacy hubs in Geneva and New York. 

The evaluation has a dual purpose: generating credible, independent knowledge about what has worked, how, and under what conditions; and producing actionable findings to inform CIVICUS’ next strategic period and the Netherlands MFA’s future engagement with global civil society partners. 

The selected evaluator will be required to: conduct a desk-based inception phase including Theory of Change validation and evaluation matrix development; lead mixed-methods data collection including outcome harvesting, contribution analysis, key informant interviews, surveys and case studies; and produce a final report of no more than 60 pages plus annexes. A participatory and co-creative approach is expected throughout, with meaningful engagement of CIVICUS members, partners and target stakeholders — particularly those from the Global South and excluded groups — alongside full compliance with IOB Evaluation Quality Criteria (2024) and OECD/DAC evaluation principles. 

The evaluation is expected to commence in July 2026, with the final report and executive summary due in January 2027. Key milestones include an inception report (mid-August 2026), an interim briefing (end-October 2026), a draft report and validation workshop (end-November 2026), and final deliverables including a presentation deck (mid-January 2027). 

Qualifications and experience 

CIVICUS is seeking an evaluator or team that collectively demonstrates: 

• Demonstrable experience evaluating international civil society alliances, federations, networks or membership organisations with a global mandate and multi-regional presence, working in the areas of civic space and human rights. 
• Demonstrated commitment to participatory, co-created and equity-centred evaluation practice, and experience applying the IOB Evaluation Quality Criteria (2024) and/or the OECD/DAC evaluation criteria, with concrete examples from prior assignments. 
• Substantial experience with the qualitative methods specified in the ToR: outcome harvesting, contribution analysis, and process tracing or equivalent causal analysis approaches 
• Strong written and spoken English; proficiency in Spanish, French or Arabic is an advantage 
• Full independence from the design or implementation of CIVICUS’ Netherlands MFA-funded programme 

Desirable attributes include prior experience evaluating Netherlands MFA-funded programmes (Power of Voices, Dialogue and Dissent, Leading from the South or VOICE); team diversity in geography (with strong Global South representation), gender and generation; and familiarity with safeguarding and do-no-harm frameworks in high-risk environments. 

Budget 

Applicants are required to submit a draft budget in USD, including daily rates, as part of their proposal. Budget will be assessed for value for money relative to scope and level of effort. 

Full Terms of Reference 

How to apply 

Applicants are invited to submit a proposal of no more than five pages (excluding annexes) addressing the following five elements. Proposals exceeding the page limit may be returned without review. 

1. Why you are best placed to do this evaluation. Articulate clearly why the applicant or team is best placed to conduct this evaluation, including the specific value the team brings; experience working with the Netherlands MFA or comparable bilateral/multilateral funders, including the nature, scale and outcomes of those assignments; and demonstrated familiarity with the IOB Evaluation Quality Criteria (2024) and the OECD/DAC evaluation criteria, including concrete examples of how these have been applied in prior evaluations. 
2. Experience with similar organisations. Describe experience evaluating organisations of a similar nature, i.e. global civil society alliances, networks, federations, membership organisations or international NGOs working on advocacy, civic space, human rights and philanthropy. 
3. Proposed methodology: Outline your understanding of the ToR and your proposed methodology. Include the values and principles you will apply to the evaluation process to ensure that the fundamental principle of co-creation is followed while adhering to the IOB criteria. This should address how you will safeguard independence, rigour and credibility alongside meaningful, ongoing participation of CIVICUS members, networks, partners and target stakeholders, particularly those in the Global South and those representing excluded groups. Applicants are encouraged to address how they will navigate tensions that may arise between IOB requirements (e.g. independence of sampling decisions from actively involved stakeholders) and co-creation. 

Required annexes 

• CVs of the proposed evaluation team (please keep these concise). 
• A draft budget in USD, including daily rates. 
• Two writing samples from comparable assignments completed in the past five years. 
• Two references from comparable assignments completed within the last five years (named contacts and a brief description of the assignment). 
• A declaration of any prior or concurrent engagements with CIVICUS, its members or the Netherlands MFA, for conflict-of-interest assessment. 

Proposals should be submitted by email to partnerships@civicus.org with the subject line “CIVICUS–Netherlands MFA Evaluation 2021–2026 [Applicant name]” by 23:59 South Africa Standard Time on 13 July 2026. Late submissions will not be considered.